A mathematical model of breast and ovarian cancer treated with paclitaxel

A mathematical model that describes the effects of cell-cycle-specific drugs on cancer and normal tissue is developed. The model takes into account the proliferating cells, which are sensitive to the treatment, and the quiescent cells, which are resistant to the treatment. With the use of information from the medical literature, model parameters are estimated for breast and ovarian cancer as well as for bone marrow. Then, with the use of the model and the estimated parameters, some acceptable treatment strategies are discussed in terms of treatment period, drug-infusion time, and proliferative fraction of cancer mass. Finally, these results are compared with current clinical practices for treatment with Taxol, and possible improvements on current treatment strategies are suggested.